Angela Faust - Veterinary Physiotherapy

04/06/2026

If you are my client, these exercises will usually be part of your rehab homework unless there is a very good reason for them not to be!

When done correctly, ‘carrot stretches’ (or dynamic mobilisations, to use their proper name) can be extremely beneficial for your horse.

Previous research showed that following a program of DMEs x4 weekly for 12 weeks resulted in a significant size increase of the horses’ multifidus muscles. The multifidi are small postural muscles that connect between the vertebrae and help stabilise the spine. Along with the abdominal muscles and iliopsoas group, these make up the horse’s core muscles.

This linked research demonstrates the effect of DMEs on muscle activation. Understandably, the more difficult exercises like reaching the nose back to the hip resulted in greater muscle activation! However, this is too advanced for many horses initially, and is something that has to be built up to gradually.

Key tips for good baited DMEs:

🥕 Best done after exercise (or massage) when the muscles are warm
🥕Stand the horse as square as possible
🥕Avoid letting the horse twist their head too much. When bending to the side a small degree of rotation is anatomically normal, but try to avoid the head tipping so the ears are unlevel. (I would say the horse pictured in the thumbnail is twisting too much)
🥕 Work within the horse’s capabilities - if the horse is lunging around to sn**ch the treat this is a sign it is too hard, and is a ballistic contraction, which we want to avoid
🥕Likewise, if you’re guiding the head between the front legs and the knees bend you may be going too far. It’s not terrible if one knee bends slightly, but ideally you want to stop at the point just before the horse feels the need to do this to get the full benefit of the exercise
🥕Smooth, gradual motion. Reset with the head in neutral between reps. I like to alternate as well, so left side, right side, between the legs, etc.
🥕Hold 7-10 seconds

14/04/2026

I am proud to be registered with NAVP. All members of NAVP are degree level therapists (or equivalent) and are required to keep our knowledge up to date with yearly CPD.

What Makes Our Members Distinct

NAVP members represent a highly skilled cohort of professionals dedicated to advancing animal musculoskeletal health and rehabilitation through physical therapy.

What distinguishes many of our members is their wholly animal-focused educational pathway. The majority of NAVP members pursue direct-entry qualifications in Veterinary Physiotherapy from the outset, dedicating their careers exclusively to the study of animal anatomy, biomechanics, rehabilitation and musculoskeletal health.

This animal-first pathway is often further strengthened by prior experience in:
• Animal management
• Equine and canine performance disciplines
• Rehabilitation settings
• Veterinary practice and clinical environments

This combination of focused academic study and practical experience provides many NAVP practitioners with a uniquely comprehensive understanding of animal movement, function and rehabilitation.

At NAVP, we are proud to represent professionals whose careers are built upon animal-first focus, evidence-based practice and a lifelong commitment to improving patient outcomes.

04/04/2026

Spring is here! For many, this means bringing horses back into work, or increasing their workload. As the days lengthen, many will be making the most of winter’s end to get out and about enjoying themselves.

To make sure your horse is feeling their best, consider booking a physiotherapy session with me. I am a fully qualified and insured degree-level vet physio registered with NAVP (National Association of Veterinary Physiotherapists).

🐴Covering Essex and surrounding areas.🐴

Benefits of having physio for your horse:

✨ Rehabilitation from injury

✨ Reduced pain and stiffness

✨ Improved mobility

✨ Targeted exercise plans to develop core strength and functional posture, helping to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury

Alongside providing remedial exercise, I can currently offer:

✨Manual therapies (massage and stretching)

✨ Laser therapy

✨ Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy

✨ Heat therapy

Contact me to book:
📞07523112323
or via messenger.

04/02/2026

We call this exercise a ‘hogs back’. This exercise is excellent for generating suppleness through the spine (lateral bend) and increasing joint flexion of the limbs, as well as increasing proprioception and coordination.

The horse here is well coordinated enough to do these very shallow bends without knocking the poles, but slightly larger loops may be more appropriate for less advanced horses.

09/11/2025

Core stability provides the strength and co-ordination for control, balance, posture and carrying weight. It can improve self carriage, enhance performance and reduce the risk of injury.

The core muscles include:
- The thoracic sling
- Abdominal muscles
- Pelvic stabilisers
- Deep ventral muscles

Ridden exercises to strengthen your horse's core focus on engagement of the hindlimbs to lighten the forehand. These include frequent transitions and half halts that encourage your horse to collect and push from behind.

Hill work and pole work using raised trot and canter poles are also valuable exercises.

In-hand exercises to strengthen the core include carrot stretches, backing up, walking over raised poles and back lifts.

Comment Pilates if you'd like to know more.

07/11/2025

Lovely new piece of kit from Epiony, their heatpad plus. Heat therapy is fantastic for increasing blood flow, reducing muscle tension, and easing pain and stiffness. It’s great for warming up the back prior to exercise, even in this unseasonally warm weather. I use this to warm up the tissues so I can get in there with my manual therapies!




call 07523112323 to book or email at [email protected] or via facebook messenger

01/06/2025

When physios feel your horse all over to check if they’re sore, they should not be pressing that hard. It’s unnecessary.

As for the reflexes, we sometimes illicit them on purpose as part of a spinal assessment, or for rehab purposes. Though we don’t really want to see big dramatic dropping of the horse’s back at a hundred miles an hour. It’s not beneficial.

09/04/2025

CHOOSE YOUR SURFACES CAREFULLY

With the lovely weather we’ve been having, the slushy mud of winter is a distant memory, and the ground is now quite hard.

Hard ground = increased concussion on the joints.

I would not recommend doing fast work on hard ground if you can avoid it; this is particularly important if your horse has any boney pathologies like osteoarthritis.

But. I realise it’s unrealistic to expect people to wait for the perfect ground conditions to materialise - which may not happen if we have a very hot summer. Telling people to only walk all summer isn’t realistic. Some suggestions:

- Work on a surface where possible if your hacking is too hard
- A decent turf covering can add a bit more spring and reduce concussion so look for grassy bits (watch out for rabbit holes though)
- If you’re out competing and can’t avoid hard ground, be sure to keep work light a few days before and after

06/02/2025

I find people tend to either overestimate OR underestimate the amount of work their horse is capable of doing when returning to work after an injury.

In the initial stages a slow return to exercise is always best. But some rehab plans will enable progression faster than others. There is no one-size-fits all exercise plan. Some of the factors that will decide how quickly or slowly a horse progresses include the type and location of the injury, the amount of time off, and how fit the horse was prior to the injury.

Bringing your horse back into work after a break?

Take it slow! 🐎✨

Bypass the “back to work bootcamp”…
Just like us, horses need time to rebuild strength, flexibility, and fitness to prevent injuries. Start with groundwork, focus on mobility, and gradually reintroduce ridden exercise. Patience now means longevity later 💪🐴 After a light few weeks, and then a week off last week, Meji’s sessions have involved simple, confidence building exercises focusing no on suppleness, relaxation and connection.

15/10/2024

“The horse just has a little arthritis in his left hock, it doesn’t seem to bother him too much, he just gets a bit stiff!”

Horses are great compensators, and they will create alternative locomotive patterns to continue movement.

So, say this little bit of osteoarthritis causes a reduced range of motion of the tarsal (hock) joint. In an attempt to maintain stride length and hide this dysfunction to potential predators (because you never know when a lion could be waiting around the corner... or a flapping plastic bag!), the tarsal joint is rotated medially (inwards) during the swing phase of the stride. This results in asymmetrical & medial weight bearing through the digit. This places additional stress through medial hamstring muscles, resulting in muscle tension and trigger points. And this is all something that is potentially going on in the affected hindlimb.

A hip hike/drop can occur at corresponding phases of the stride, placing the sacroiliac joint under stress, resulting in paraspinal and asymmetrical gluteal tone/pain.

Decreased impulsion from the left hindlimb leads to increased weight bearing through the right forelimb diagonal. This can create tension and hypertrophy to the right pectoral muscles and related fascial planes.

The spiral of compensation could continue on further, affecting cervical muscles that become hypertonic as a result of weight shifting, digit shape and size, TMJ pain, head tiling, hyoid dysfunction, asymmetric tail holding...

Often it can be the case where I see a horse that is a chronic stage of compensation and it can be difficult to find the true cause especially when the horse may appear just overall “stiff”.

I liken the rehabilitation of chronic cases to peeling the layers off an onion; one layer at a time and piece by piece to unravel and rewind the compensation spiral. It is important to identify and manage the root cause, rather than just accepting it🐴